I live in a small town in Nevada (USA). At 36 weeks I was swabbed for GBS and a week later I was told it was negative. At my 37 week appointment my doctor told me he was going to be going on vacation and he wanted to induce me. He also said he would do a membrane sweep in a week to try and start things up and the next day I would be induced at 5:30 in the morning. I was so excited... well June 26th 2018 came and we got things going. Three hours later they decided to brake my water because I was not progressing fast enough and my OB wanted to leave and go on vacation soon. I was in labor for 12 more hours before my baby boy was in my arms.

He was so perfect. 7lbs and 1 oz and 19 inches long. We were told he was healthy and we couldn't be happier. We decided to name him Santiago Nicholas. The whole family was there and everyone was so happy.

​An hour later my family and I noticed things were off with him. He would grunt and looked like he was in pain. He would not stop making noises and every time we moved him, he would cry. We also noticed he was sensitive to the light and his feet and hands and nose were cold, but the rest of his body was warm. We let the nurses know and they did not listen. They said it was normal. He would not eat and he would throw up everything he did try to eat. In my heart I knew it was not.

After everyone went home at 8:30pm I told the nurses he looked grey. They kept brushing me off. Later the night time nurse checked his heart and it was at 2:00. She called the doctor that took over for my OB ran a couple of test, but didn't know what was wrong with him. They put him on an IV. The next morning they decided to care fly us to Salt Lake City Utah. When we arrived they found he had GBS sepsis and Meningitis.

We were at the hospital for 6 days. It was roller coaster. They gave us no hope for him. He was put under 11 different medications. He had blood transfusions and platelets every day. He was also having seizures. They tried three different medications to control it, but nothing worked. His potassium levels were up and he was swelling up due to his capillaries breaking. He was not urinating so all his fluids leaked in his body. His skin was ripping and he had to be put on morphine. They wanted to do ECMO, but were not able to, due to bleeding in his brain. He passed away July 2nd at 1:15am in my arms. He swelled up too much it was constricting his lungs and his heart. They couldn't get his blood pressure up or his oxygen levels up.

I had to watch how my baby was slowly dying and I couldn't do anything to help him. His body gave out before the antibiotics could kick in. I was told by the doctors in Salt Lake that the hospital where he was born should've administered antibiotics right away. Instead they waited until they got the results. I was not aware what GBS is. I just knew it was a normal procedure they did. So I thought nothing of it. I wish I knew because all the signs were there. On July 17, I buried my baby boy. I wish my doctor would've talked to me about GBS and the risk it actually had, but even the doctors and nurses failed to see the signs.

Yadira, thank you for sharing about your Santiago Nicholas and the importance of health care providers not only knowing and being able to recognize the sign of GBS infection, but paying attention to parents' concerns.

Symposium attendees, please visit https://www.groupbstrepinternational.org/recognize-the-symptoms-of-infection.html for printable resources about the signs of GBS infection in babies.